Category: gospel

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Earnest Pugh’s single “I Need Your Glory” breaks through urban radio

Earnest Pugh

Gospel singer Earnest Pugh continues to make big strides in his career. His recent No. 1 Billboard gospel radio smash “I Need Your Glory” has now crossed over to the urban adult contemporary radio charts. This week the song moves up to #23 on the Mediabase Urban AC chart and No. 30 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart. 


“It’s an honor to be embraced by Urban AC radio,” Pugh says in a news release. “This milestone in my career solidifies my belief that in bad times people gravitate to The Good News and good ole hard work pays off!”

A Memphis native who was mentored by Grammy Award winning choir leader O’Landa Draper back in the 1990s, Pugh released his first solo CD in 2006 and showed off his five-octave vocals on the radio hit “Wrapped Up, Tied Up, Tangled Up.” After years of making respectable forays into gospel, Pugh finally hit it big in 2009 with his No. 1 smash “Rain on Us.” He followed-up with other radio chart smashes such as “The Great I Am” and “Perfect Peace” before hitting No. 1 again with “I Need Your Glory.” For more information, go to www.earnestpugh.com.

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Rance Allen Group wins two Stellar Awards for best-selling CD

The Rance Allen Group

According to a recent news release, the legendary Rance Allen Group has earned two Stellar Awards for their latest CD, The Live Experience II: Celebrating 40 Years of Music and Ministry (Tyscot Records).  The group picked up awards in the categories of Quartet of the Year and Traditional Group/Duo of the Year. The ceremony will broadcast on The GMC Channel at 7 p.m. February 11. Check your local listings at www.watchgmctv.com.

The live CD celebrates the group’s 40-year career. It features two medleys of their past hits such as “Feel Like Going On,” “We Care a Lot” and “Smile.” It also features new songs such as the old school soul flavored “You That I Trust” and the worship ballad, “Holy One.” Making cameo appearances are renowned artists such as Shirley Caesar, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, and The Christianaires’ Paul Porter. 

The Rance Allen Group has been recording professionally since 1971. They started with Stax Records where they recorded a string of gritty, R&B-flavored gospel and message songs through the 1970s. From there, the group recorded for a variety of labels and scored their first No. 1 gospel album in 1991 with the Phenomenon CD that featured the crossover R&B smash, “Miracle Worker.”


In 2002, the Rance Allen Group joined Tyscot Records, where they have enjoyed a new string of hits such as “Do Your Will,” “Closest Friend,” “For Your Feet,” and the Kirk Franklin duet, “Something About the Name Jesus.”  The music industry has now begun to honor the Rance Allen Group for its groundbreaking work in bridging R&B and gospel. They received a Legend Award during the 2009 Stellar Awards and were feted in a BMI Trailblazers of Gospel ceremony in 2008.

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Shekinah Glory Ministry earns Stellar Award for Contemporary Choir of the Year

According to a recent news release, Shekinah Glory Ministry has earned a Stellar Award (gospel music’s answer to the Grammy Awards) in the category of Contemporary Choir of the Year for their double CD, “Refreshed by Fire” (Kingdom Records). The ceremony took place at The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville and will make its television broadcast debut at 7 p.m. EST February 11 on The GMC Channel. Check your local listing at www.watchgmctv.com.

Released last fall, “Refreshed by Fire” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums sales chart. The CD also came in at No. 2 on Billboard’s Christian/Gospel chart, No. 12 on the Independent chart, No. 61 on the Top 200 pop chart and No. 59 on the Current Albums chart. The live DVD version of the CD was also a Top 10 debut and continues to sell briskly. The majestic ballad “Just for Me” became a Top 20 radio hit, and the video of the song has received almost 200,000 YouTube views. Shekinah Glory Ministry is profiled in the February 2012 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine.

Shekinah Glory Ministries is not a choir. It’s an ensemble of psalmists, minstrels, and banner bearers who perform “under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. “ Their Hebrew name means “the glorified presence of God.” Their CDs Praise Is What I Do (No. 5 peak Top Gospel Albums) and Shekinah Glory Ministry Live (No. 3 peak Top Gospel Albums – 103 weeks on the chart) were both certified gold in 2005 and 2008 respectively. They also have three gold or platinum DVDs to their credit. Fore more information, go to www.kingdomrecordsinc.com.

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Black Liberated Arts Center Inc. Committed Epic Records Frederick Douglass High School Auditorium gospel NBC Oklahoma Oklahoma City performances Sony Music television The Sing-Off United States

Black Liberated Arts Center presents “Sing-Off” Season 2 winners Committed in concert

Committed
Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC) Inc., in conjunction with members of the Oklahoma Conference of Seventh Day Adventist, will present Sony Music recording artists Committed in concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Frederick Douglass High School Auditorium, 900 Martin Luther King Avenue in Oklahoma City. 

The concert will benefit the Douglass High School Band. The group – Maurice Staple, Geston Pierre, Alain “Tommy” Gervais, Theron “Therry” Thomas Jr., Robert Pressley Jr., and Dennis Baptiste Jr. – initially started as a quartet 2003 at Forest Lake Academy outside Orlando, Fla., and evolved with the addition of new members over time. With a sound reminiscent of their greatest musical influence, Take 6, the group stole the hearts of America when they walked away as the grand prize winners of the “The Sing-Off” Season 2.
The group earned a contract with Epic Records and a $100,000 cash prize. “The Sing-Off” ranked No. 1 in its timeslot, and Committed received a record number of votes, sold more than 110,000 tracks, garnered 25,000 Facebook friends and 7,000 followers on Twitter.

For more information, call BLAC Inc. at (405) 524-3800.

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Stellar Award winner Stephen Hurd to release “O That Men Would Worship” in February

Over the last decade, Stephen Hurd has distinguished himself as one of the leading voices in urban praise and worship music. His songs “Undignified” and “Lead Me to the Rock” are sung at faith gatherings around the globe. Now, he’s preparing to release his most ambitious project yet – O That Men Would Worship, his sixth CD and the first on his own Hurd The Word recording label. He’s designed the new CD as a tool to inspire men to take on a greater leadership role in church worship services. Recorded live at The First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro, Md., where Hurd is the minister of music, the collection is scheduled to hit retail stores on February 21, 2012, via a distribution deal with Central South Distribution Inc.


“My goal is to get men and especially men of color to realize that worship is not a feminine sport,” Hurd says in a news release. “In this season, I feel we should come together and lift up a sound that has the power to change families and strengthen communities and help brothers to get a glimpse of what real worship is. I think when men see other men worship it gives them freedom to worship without feeling emasculated.”


Joining Hurd are Verity Gospel Music Group recording artist Jason Nelson, Christian pop artist Anthony Evans and Min. Deonte Gray who is a member of the 7 Sons of Soul vocal group. Hurd created an all-male sextet of singers to back certain songs and a coed group called Extol to back the CD as a whole. Aside from co-writing most of the songs, Hurd produced the 15-track set alongside up-and-coming producers Kenny Shelton and Anthony Brown. Celebrated producer Steve Ford, who’s worked with acts ranging from Phyllis Hyman to Richard Smallwood, created the lush string arrangements while the in-demand Phil Lassiter (John P. Kee, Marvin Sapp) delivered the hearty horn arrangements.

Although Hurd began recording albums in the late 1990s, his first national CD release was 2004’s A Call to Worship (Integrity Music) that featured the Caribbean-styled radio smash, “Undignified.”  The 2006 My Destiny (Integrity Music) CD featured the hit singles “Great Praise (The War Cry)” and “Destiny” while his 2008 Top 10 Stellar Award winning CD Times of Refreshing (Integrity Music), featured the radio single, “Amazing.” For more information, visit www.hurdthewordmusic.com.
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Organist Moses Tyson Jr. earns first Stellar Award nomination

Moses Tyson Jr.

According to a news release, organist Moses Tyson Jr. has earned the first Stellar Award nomination of his long and illustrious career. The Stellar Award is gospel music’s version of the Grammy Awards.


Tyson’s latest CD, “Music Remastered & Sacred Organ” (Tymo Gospel Music), is up for a Stellar Award in the category of Instrumental Gospel CD of the Year in a field of noted competitors such as saxophonist Harold Rayford, sax man Todd Ledbetter and Winston Stewart, the former keyboardist for the ’70s era R&B band, The  Bar-Kays. The awards ceremony is at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, at The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn.

It’s been a banner year for Tyson, who has been endorsed by Hammond Organ (Hammond Suzuki USA Inc.) and is the spokesperson for their new line of portable keyboards such as the Mini-B and the Melodian. He’s been all over the media spectrum, turning in mesmerizing performances on BET’s “Bobby Jones Gospel,” TBN’s “Praise the Lord” and The Word Network. His dynamic tunes “Pray for Me” and “You’ve Got to Move” have been in heavy rotation on various radio stations.

Tyson isn’t only promoting himself though. His Tymo Records label recently issued the hit CD, “Tribute to Bishop G.E. Patterson 2,” an exhilarating musical celebration of the life of the beloved leader of the Church of God in Christ (COGIC). It also features the last live recordings by the late Bishop Walter L. Hawkins and the late Rev. Timothy Wright. The Hammond B3 has spiced up some of the greatest pop records of all time, from Percy Sledge’s “When a Man Loves a Woman” to Billy Preston’s psychedelic “Will It Go Round in Circles?” Although, the self-taught Tyson began his career playing on a sessions with his cousin, funk legend Sly Stone, he’s distinguished himself as gospel music’s leading organist over the last three decades.  He began his career under the management of Suzanne de Passe and recorded for Liberty/EMI Records on a roster alongside Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton. He returned to his roots in the ’90s and has been home ever since keeping traditional gospel music alive.


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Black Smoke Music Worldwide/EPM Brooklyn Darrell McFadden and the Disciples gospel music New York United States

Darrell McFadden and the Disciples release 20th anniversary CD/DVD

For two decades, Darrell McFadden and the Disciples have been making down home traditional gospel music just like four part harmonizers make it in southern quartet hubs such as Canton, Miss. (home of the Canton Spirituals), Jackson, Miss. (birthplace of The Jackson Southernaires) or Tupelo, Miss. (the launching pad for Lee Williams & the Spiritual QCs). The only difference is these guys hail from Brooklyn, NY. Now the group has assembled a jam-packed live CD/DVD called “Alive! 20th Anniversary Concert” (Blacksmoke Music Worldwide).

“We’re honored and privileged to be used as instruments of God to deliver this project, 20 years in the making,” says the group’s founder, Bishop Darrell McFadden, who is pastor of the Galilean Deliverance Temple in Bronx, NY, in a news release. “We’ve had some hard times, but we count it all joy.  We thank God for our Fans because they’ve had our backs throughout this entire journey, we thank and love them so much!  And always remember, in all of thy getting, make sure you get an understanding.”

The 22 song, two-disc set (one audio CD and one video DVD) was recorded in April 2011 at the Christian Faith Center in Creedmoor, NC, and features the Disciples’ most-loved hits. Among them are the soul-stirring ballad “I Can’t Even Walk (Without You Holding My Hand),” the hand clappers “Shackles” and “Long as I Got Jesus (That’s Alright)” and the upbeat “Be Ready.”  The set also features two studio performances, including the ’70s R&B throwback groove, “Wilderness.” Jazzing up quartet has been in the group’s lifeblood from the start.


“We want to take quartet music to a new stage of recognition and popularity,” says McFadden. “A lot of people have lost touch with it, or aren’t even familiar with it, or have an inaccurate impression about it. We want to show them that it can still be current and modern, and something they can latch onto and enjoy. But our greatest purpose is just to win souls.

For more information, go to www.mrkerrydouglas.com.

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Update: Christmas program featuring Committed cancelled in Oklahoma City

The Christmas program featuring Sony Recording artist group Committed scheduled to take place on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, at the Metropolitan Library System’s Ralph Ellison branch in Oklahoma City has been cancelled due to the cancellation of the “Have a Mary Mary Christmas Tour.” For more information, call Black Liberated Arts Center Inc. at (405) 524-3800.

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Mary Mary cancels Dec. 11 Christmas show in Oklahoma City

In a recent news release, Black Liberated Arts Center (BLAC) Inc. in Oklahoma City announced that the “Have a Mary Mary Christmas Tour” show scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011, at Frederick A. Douglass auditorium, had been cancelled due to medical concerns surrounding the pregnancy of Erica Campbell, who is due for delivery in February.  The announcement is also posted on Mary Mary’s website (http://www.mary-mary.com/us/home).

The announcement issued by Mary Mary to BLAC Inc. indicated that the gospel duo had been on an unprecedented run of award shows, nomination, non-stop travel for holiday performances and a television series taping was forced to cancel their much anticipated first ever “Have a Mary Mary Christmas Tour” as Erica’s due date was approaching.

Anita Arnold, executive director of BLAC Inc., said that buyers of Mary Mary tickets should take their tickets to the place where they were purchased to claim their refund.  Online purchases, mail and telephone credit card purchases will be refunded through BLAC, Inc.  For more information, call (405) 524-3800 to obtain specific instructions on refunds.

BLAC Inc. extends thanks to everyone, especially, Saraa Kami, who worked hard to bring this show of excellence to the community.  An announcement of BLAC Inc.’s full season of performing arts will be made in early 2012.  
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Veteran soul singer Shirley Murdock stars in “I’ll be Home for Christmas” in December


Over the last two decades, veteran soul and gospel vocalist Shirley Murdock has dreamed up a new career as an actress in the new holiday musical entitled, “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Murdock co-stars with R&B veteran Freddie Jackson in the comedy that also features Lisa Page Brooks and Sam Logan. In it, Murdock portrays a feisty pastor’s wife who keeps order in her husband’s church and has her eye on her son being paroled from prison right before Christmas. The musical will be staged at the Newark Symphony Hall (Sarah Vaughan Concert Hall), 1020 Broad Street in Newark, NJ, at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16 and Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011. For more information, call  (973) 643-8014.  All tickets are $38.32. On Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011, at 3:30 p.m., the show will make its debut at the famed Apollo Theater, 253 West 125th Street in New York. Tickets range from $55 to $90. For more information, call (800) 745-3000 or go to www.homeforxmas.com. 

Meanwhile, Murdock’s current radio single “Dream” is in the Top 30 of Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart. It’s one of a dozen musical chestnuts that Murdock either wrote or co-wrote for her first ever live concert CD “The Journey” (Tyscot Records) that features cameos by R&B divas Kelly Price, Regina Belle and gospel powerhouse Beverly Crawford.  This will be Murdock’s second gospel project with Tyscot Records. Her 2007 label debut, Soul Food, included the chart hit “I Love Me Better Than That.” For more information on Murdock, go to www.tyscot.com or to her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shirley-Murdock/138053567564.